SA buckle - what do you guys think?

Article about: I came upon this SA buckle and I'm curious what you guys think of it. These are not something I've really studied, so I'm flying blind to be honest. Thanks in advance for any thoughts and op

I have this one and the collectors Guild has a couple of these and they all look like the one Marcus posted. Interested to see what David has to say. I was surprised how much the Guild was asking for these.

I think that you have started a really interesting thread in relation to a very interesting SA buckle and please accept my apologies for chipping in somewhat belatedly.

The so called "dog head" SA buckle is now very well known and quite well documented and there are several variations of head, wing and other feature design, all wrapped up under the generic of "dog head".

Without stating the blindingly obvious, the common features of (a) a dog head eagle, (b) slightly stubby wings and (c), the swastika almost dead centre rather than being lower from centre. The reverse usually has (a) a half moon catch, (b) close proximity solder spots and (c), a traditional pin shroud and claw arrangement with however very sharp and needle like claw tips.

The buckle that you now hold Erno strays from the usual and by two overt differences being (a) the bridge catch and (b), those much loved ugly claws.

Whilst the ears of the buckle box are slightly "pinched in", in my opinion this buckle is completely original and period in all aspects.

A dog head SA is now rare and expensive to boot, however any SA buckle with an ugly claw arrangement is and again in my opinion, very rare. Combine the two features and of course, a quite special buckle.

A great find and yet again, a clear indication of the staggering variance of SA buckle design and construction features which manifested themselves during the non regulated and at times ad hoc Kampfzeit period of the mid 1920's to the early 1930's.